Fall 2026

General Ecology

General Ecology covers the ecology of organisms through biosphere levels, studying interactions in field and lab settings.

offering recorded4 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Ellen Damschen3.7/5Garrett KnowltonPatricia Chan +1 more

Summary

1 / 7

Historical reviews of Thomas Givnish: Reviewers report high difficulty, citing exams based on memorizing old research papers and homework that leads to failure without TA help. The teaching style is described as rushing through topics with wordy definitions.

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Satisfied Quantitative Reasoning (QR) A and ZOOLOGY/​BIOLOGY/​BOTANY 152, (ZOOLOGY/​BIOLOGY 101 and 102),BIOCORE 381, or BOTANY/​BIOLOGY 130, or graduate/professional standing

BOTANY/ZOOLOGY 460 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Fall 2026
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.80/5 from 35 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2021: 3.28 GPA, 55.6% A/AB (n=81 letter grades); Fall 2022: 3.19 GPA, 52.7% A/AB (n=93 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.50 GPA, 76.7% A/AB (n=60 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

No course-specific feedback yet.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

ELLEN DAMSCHEN is recorded teaching in Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

STANLEY I. DODSON is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Fall 2007, Fall 2008. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

THOMAS GIVNISH is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Spring 2009, Spring 2011, Spring 2014, Spring 2016, Spring 2018, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction32 / 720
LAB 301Classroom Instruction11 / 180
DIS 601Classroom Instruction11 / 180
DIS 602Classroom Instruction8 / 180
LAB 302Classroom Instruction8 / 180
LAB 305Classroom Instruction10 / 180
DIS 605Classroom Instruction10 / 180
DIS 603Classroom Instruction3 / 180
LAB 303Classroom Instruction3 / 180
LEC 001Classroom Instruction26 / 720
LAB 301Classroom Instruction6 / 200
LAB 302Classroom Instruction6 / 200
DIS 601Classroom Instruction6 / 200
DIS 602Classroom Instruction6 / 200
LAB 305Classroom Instruction8 / 200
DIS 605Classroom Instruction8 / 200
LAB 303Classroom Instruction6 / 200
DIS 603Classroom Instruction6 / 200

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Recent historical reviews for Thomas Givnish describe a confusing and disorganized experience with unclear expectations. One historical review for Stanley Dodson offers a contrasting, positive perspective on his teaching style.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.38 GPA, 60.4% A/AB (n=48 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.50 GPA, 76.7% A/AB (n=60 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.23 GPA, 54.2% A/AB (n=59 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Historical reviews of Thomas Givnish: Reviewers report high difficulty, citing exams based on memorizing old research papers and homework that leads to failure without TA help. The teaching style is described as rushing through topics with wordy definitions.

Historical reviews of Thomas Givnish: Students found the lecture, lab, and discussion disconnected, with confusing grading and a lack of support. One reviewer dropped the class due to the disorganized teaching style and lack of learning.

Topics

  • Ecological levels from organisms to biosphere.
  • Organism-environment interactions.
  • Field and laboratory study methods.

Skills

  • Quantitative study of ecological relationships.
  • Analysis of organism-environment interactions.

Grades

Historical instructor

Fall 2026 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.17 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Fall 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1283 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
BOTANY/ZOOLOGY 460 · Fall 2026

General Ecology

Recorded 2026-09-07
BOTANY/ZOOLOGY 460 · Fall 2026

General Ecology

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:208:001982",
    "course_id": "BOTANY/ZOOLOGY 460",
    "course_uid": "course_d5149edf8c7ee88fdc8c9825",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "001982",
    "source_subject_id": "208",
    "title": "General Ecology",
    "credits_min": 4,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  },
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:970:001982",
    "course_id": "BOTANY/ZOOLOGY 460",
    "course_uid": "course_d5149edf8c7ee88fdc8c9825",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "001982",
    "source_subject_id": "970",
    "title": "General Ecology",
    "credits_min": 4,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-09-07

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "68302704d887752a843eaab88e23891f3c8f5587accd7dfb6ba167bdd5e651ba",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}